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Brexit trade talks are set to continue tomorrow in Brussels with the UK and the EU admitting ‘significant differences’ still remain.
Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen vowed that ‘further effort should be undertaken’ by negotiators to come to an agreement – amid claims that no compromise can be made unless Emmanuel Macron backs down.
The French President is reportedly insisting on ‘ridiculous’ 10-year fishing access to British waters as part of a hardline stance he persuaded EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier to take this week.
Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen released a joint statement following a phone call which lasted more than an hour on Saturday.
The statement said: ‘In a phone call today on the on-going negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, we welcomed the fact that progress has been achieved in many areas.
‘Nevertheless, significant differences remain on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries. Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved.
‘Whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved.
‘We are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in Brussels. We will speak again on Monday evening.’
Ms von der Leyen tweeted: ‘I had a phone call with Boris Johnson on the EU-UK negotiations. Differences remain. No agreement feasible if these are not resolved. Chief negotiators will reconvene tomorrow. We will speak again on Monday.’
Mr Banier also took to Twitter, writing: ‘We will see if there is a way forward. Work continues tomorrow.’
Brexit trade talks are set to continue tomorrow in Brussels with the UK and the EU admitting ‘significant differences’ still remain. Pictured: Boris Johnson during his conversation with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (right) vowed that ‘further effort should be undertaken’ by negotiators to come to an agreement – amid claims that no compromise can be made unless Emmanuel Macron (left) backs down
Barnier’s telling tweet: Mr Barnier is expected to return to Brussels this morning to warn the negotiations are in peril
Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said: ‘The British people were promised a deal and, with time running out, we urge both sides to get on with reaching an agreement.
‘We can then focus on the job at hand which is securing the economy and rebuilding our country from the pandemic.’
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood tweeted: ‘The ongoing talks between Britain & the EU seem very much like the end of every negotiation that ends positively. Lots of theatrics.
‘The bottom line is Britain needs a deal. If they don’t do it there’ll be huge economic consequences on top of the impact of Covid.’
It comes after the UK’s former Brexit Secretary David Davis told BBC Breakfast that progress could be made this afternoon on other issues as both sides prepare to compromise, adding that chances of a deal being made were ‘still high’.
He told the BBC: ‘The big decisions won’t be this afternoon between the prime minister and president of the commission but in wires running hot between Berlin and Paris and other capitals.’
A close Macron ally yesterday said he would veto any trade deal that went against French interests. But UK sources said the president did not respect Britain’s independence and was trying to shield his nation’s firms from competition.
British negotiators, led by Lord Frost, were left shocked when the EU made ‘laughable’ demands on fish, including ‘total access’ to British waters for 10 years, meaning Britain would have no control, reported The Telegraph.
Other sticking points include rules on state subsidies for business and arrangements for policing any deal.
British negotiators, led by Lord Frost, were left shocked when the EU made ‘laughable’ demands on fish, including ‘total access’ to British waters for 10 years, meaning Britain would have no control, reported The Telegraph. Pictured, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier arrived for talks in London today when he said: ‘If there is still a way, we will see’
One insider warned there would be no deal unless Mr Macron backed down but Mr Barnier today said: ‘If there is still a way, we will see’.
A week of marathon negotiations fuelled by late-night pizzas broke up inconclusively in London last night but Mr Barnier was pictured this morning looking in high spirits as he arrived for another tough day of negotiations clutching a blue file of documents.
In a joint statement, Mr Barnier and the PM’s chief negotiator David Frost said: ‘The conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant divergences on level playing field, governance and fisheries.’
The two envoys said the talks had been ‘paused’ to allow political leaders to decide the next step. Mr Barnier is expected to return to Brussels this morning to warn the negotiations are in peril.
Mr Johnson will hold talks with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen this afternoon to try to rescue the process.
But Lord Frost is said to believe there is little prospect of progress unless EU leaders persuade Mr Macron to back down.
A close ally of Emmanuel Macron yesterday said he would veto any trade deal that went against French interests. But UK sources said the president did not respect Britain’s independence and was trying to shield his nation’s firms from competition. One insider warned there would be no deal unless Mr Macron backed down. (Above, Macron in Paris)
Talks have hit stalemate over fishing, where Mr Macron has been pushing for French trawlers to maintain their existing access to British waters.
Mr Barnier is said to have demanded a ten-year transition to any reduction in EU fishing access – a time period branded unacceptable by Downing Street.
A senior government official told The Times the proposal is ‘not something that we can agree to or sell’.
Another source told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Their new offer was frankly laughable. They know we can’t possibly accept it. It’s ridiculous.’
Despite the UK asking for 80 per cent of the EU’s current fishing quotas, the EU has reverted to its original offer of giving back just 18 per cent.
Failure to strike an agreement would leave the two trading partners to deal with each other on World Trade Organisation terms from the start of next month when the Brexit transition period ends.
This would lead to the imposition of tariffs on a wide range of goods, including levies of at least 40 per cent on lamb and 10 per cent on cars. British sources believe Mr Macron pressured Mr Barnier into adopting a tougher stance, which threw talks into reverse on Thursday night.
In a joint statement, Mr Barnier (left) and the PM’s chief negotiator David Frost (right) said: ‘The conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant divergences on level playing field, governance and fisheries.’ Boris Johnson will hold talks with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen this afternoon to try to rescue the process. But Lord Frost is said to believe there is little prospect of progress unless EU leaders persuade Mr Macron to back down
Mr Johnson was ready to accept the inclusion of ‘non-regression clauses’ into the deal, which would have guaranteed no cuts to current standards on state aid subsidies, workers’ rights and environmental standards
The two sides had been inching toward an agreement on the ‘level playing field’ issue, which has been deadlocked for months.
Mr Johnson was ready to accept the inclusion of ‘non-regression clauses’ into the deal, which would have guaranteed no cuts to current standards on state aid subsidies, workers’ rights and environmental standards.
But Mr Barnier is then said to have dramatically brought back earlier demands for a so-called ‘ratchet clause’ to make the UK follow future EU laws in these areas. Britain would be threatened with retaliatory tariffs if standards fell below those in the EU.
A UK source said: ‘At the start of the week we saw Macron agitating with other EU capitals that they were giving away too much. Then you see Barnier bringing this back and the whole process goes backwards. I think everyone can join the dots.
‘We want a deal but it has to be on the basis that we are a sovereign country again. Some people still seem to be struggling with the concept that we are going to be an independent country setting our own rules. If it stays like that there will be no deal.’
UK ministers now hope that Angela Merkel and other EU leaders will force Mr Macron to back down. Steffen Seibert, the German chancellor’s spokesman, warned last night that Berlin would not accept a deal ‘at any price’ but said his government believed there was ‘room for compromise’.
Earlier the French Europe minister Clement Beaune suggested Mr Macron could veto the entire deal.
The two sides had been inching toward an agreement on the ‘level playing field’ issue, which has been deadlocked for months. Above, sandwiches were delivered to the talks today, which are taking place at the Department for Business in Westminster
Mr Macron, who faces re-election in 2022, has made lavish promises to French fishermen and is said to believe blocking a deal could bolster his popularity. Mr Beaune insisted Paris wanted a deal but added: ‘France is attached to the interests of its fishermen, is attached to the fair business conditions.
‘It’s also the case for our partners that if, if there were a deal that isn’t good, which in our evaluation doesn’t correspond to those interests, we will oppose it. Yes each country has a veto, so it’s possible.’
Negotiators had targeted a deal by tomorrow night at the latest in order to allow time for legal texts running into hundreds of pages to be prepared and translated ahead of an EU summit on Thursday, which is seen as the last chance.
Sources said it was possible negotiations could continue into the start of next week, but one warned: ‘Time really is up this time.’
Josh Hardie, deputy director-general of the CBI, urged both sides to make compromises. ‘I find it almost impossible to believe that politicians on both sides would allow our countries to slip into no deal. The mutual interest in getting a deal has genuinely never been stronger post-pandemic – or mid-pandemic.’
Some Eurosceptic Tory MPs urged Mr Johnson to walk away. Andrew Bridgen said: ‘I am very worried that the Prime Minister is about to sign up to something unacceptable. If Boris sells us out on Brexit then he is finished, and I think he knows that.’
But former Tory minister Tobias Ellwood said ‘It would be a retrograde step for global Britain.’
